Ap Names Mcgwire Male Athlete Of Year

SPORTS this morning - BRIEFING tuesday

December 29, 1998

Mark McGwire did far more in 1998 than shatter the most revered record in sports and set a home-run standard that may outlive even him. With his 70 home runs, he captivated the nation and helped save the game of baseball.

And for all he accomplished, Big Mac was picked Monday as The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year.

McGwire easily won the award with 332 points. Sammy Sosa, who battled McGwire all season and finished with 66 homers, was second with 177 in the annual voting by AP member newspapers and broadcast outlets. Denver Broncos running back Terrell Davis was third with 63 points, Michael Jordan of the NBA champion Chicago Bulls was next with 54, followed by Broncos quarterback John Elway (50) and NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon (42).

Free agent Jefferies signs with Tigers

The Detroit Tigers signed free-agent infielder-outfielder Gregg Jefferies to a two-year contract worth about $5 million. Jefferies played with the Philadelphia Phillies and Anaheim Angels last season.

The Tigers also acquired outfielder Karim Garcia from the Arizona Diamondbacks for veteran outfielder Luis Gonzalez.

Pierson leads Boone to tournament win

Harold Pierson scored 24 points and Boone outscored Palm Bay 15-6 in the second quarter as the Braves beat the Pirates, 65-56, in the first round of the St. Cloud Southern Showdown boys basketball tournament at St. Cloud High. In other games, St. Cloud (6-2) rolled to a 74-43 win over Palm Bay Covenant Christian (6-3); Leesburg stopped Gateway, 71-66; and La Quinta, Calif., buried South Lake, 74-41.

Solar Bears face host Lumberjacks

After seeing their five game-winning streak snapped Sunday night with a 5-3 loss to Fort Wayne, the Orlando Solar Bears (19-12) return to action tonight at 7 against the host Cleveland Lumberjacks (13-13-3) at Gund Arena.

The game will be televised by Sunshine Network and aired by 740 AM (WWNZ).

Lightning make a pair of trades

The Tampa Bay Lightning traded defenseman Enrico Ciccone to the Washington Capitals for future considerations and sent defenseman Karl Dykhuis to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenseman Petr Svoboda. Ciccone is the Lightning's all-time leader in penalty minutes. Svoboda, 32, is a 15-year NHL veteran.

MORE HOCKEY: Peter Bondra, Ken Klee and Sergei Gonchar scored first-period goals as host Washington beat Boston, 5-1. ... Visiting New Jersey scored on its first three shots against all-star goaltender Dominik Hasek and went on to beat Buffalo, 7-4. ... Vyacheslav Kozlov scored two goals and had two other scores wiped out by video replay as host Detroit tied St. Louis, 4-4. ... Defensemen Paul Laus and Terry Carkner scored rare goals as host Florida beat the New York Islanders, 5-1. ... Shawn McEachern's second goal of the game with six seconds left in regulation gave host Ottawa a 2-2 tie with Anaheim. ... Shawn Chambers scored the only goal, and Ed Belfour made 14 saves as host Dallas remained unbeaten in 12 games in a 1-0 victory over Nashville. ... Luc Robitaille scored twice - including the game-winner with 8:48 remaining - as Los Angeles beat Phoenix, 4-2, to end the Coyotes' 11-game home unbeaten run.

American Koznick wins slalom race

Kristina Koznick of the United States clinched her first World Cup victory of the season, winning a night slalom at Semmering, Austria. Koznick, 23, whose previous season best had been second place in a Dec.20 slalom at Veysonnaz, Switzerland, twisted her way around the 58 gates down the Hirschenkogel course in a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 40.49 seconds, beating Switzerland's Karin Roten, 0.84 seconds behind in second.

5 dead, 1 missing as storm slams yachts

Life rafts heaved in roiling seas as a storm decimated the Sydney-to-Hobart (Australia) yacht race. At least five sailors were killed and one was missing as 90-mph winds and towering seas turned 40-foot yachts into tub toys.

American John Campbell was swept overboard when his yacht capsized and was so crippled by hypothermia that a helicopter dropped a police officer down on a line to grab him.

The 725-mile race continued despite the worst tragedy in its 54-year history. Of the 115 yachts that entered, 59 were forced to seek shelter and several boats were abandoned, race officials said.

The American yacht Sayonara, captained by Larry Ellison, crossed the finish line first this morning at Hobart.